GRACE
Fiona got off the stool and walked towards the exit. “It is almost three o’clock, Ruby should be on her way now.” I stood up and followed her. And when she stopped walking and raised a finger in mid-air, I stopped as well. But I didn’t raise my finger.
“Ruby’s father will be back around seven pm so you have to stay till then. But make sure that you resume early tomorrow. You need to be here by seven AM. If you can come earlier, that would be nice.”
“Thank you, Fiona.”
Our walking resumed and as we reached the grand living room, the front door opened and a little girl appeared.
She fully walked into the room, and my entire face lit up with a huge smile.
The little girl was very pretty. Donned in a black gown top that carried a pink flower in its centre and blue leggings, the girl made noise with her flip-flops as she ran towards Fiona.
“There is my baby.” Fiona hugged her to her bosom, almost burying the girl with her love and... her chest. When she dropped her, Ruby faced me. Her eyes were honey-like, and her purely black hair dropped in a way that made the roundness of her face pop.
After a brief eye contact, Ruby faced Fiona who was now taking off the girl’s backpack.
“Is she my new nanny?” Her voice was as it should be...like a child’s. It just was not so high-pitched like some girls tended to have.
“Yes, Ruby. Say Hello.”
She stretched out her tiny hand at me. “Hi. I am Ruby. You?” I noticed that she had a little lisp. It barely overpowered her speech, so it was not noticeable.
“Grace.” Your babysitter. Not a nanny.
“You are pretty.” She batted her lashes furiously, her face exposing deep dimples as she smiled.
“Thank you, Ruby. You are also pretty.”
“Do you want to go look at my toys? I have an Iron Man action figure.”
My, my. I was expecting some Barbie gang, but this is good.
I struck a dramatic pose. “Don’t tell me, you are a Marvel fan too?”
She jumped happily and smiled again. Damn, she is pretty. One can only imagine how good-looking her parents are. Come to think of it, there are no family pictures around.
“I am!” Ruby wasn’t acting as though I was some stranger, which I was. “I love The Hulk!”
“That is great. Shall we go upstairs and take a look at those action figures?” Fiona and I shared a smile and she gave me thumbs-up.
Ruby grabbed my hand, her little fingers hardly covering a quarter of mine. “Let’s go, Grace. We can even watch Thor too if you want.”
“I would love to.” I laughed loudly as she somewhat dragged me up the stairs.
She was a nice kid for sure. And I should totally enjoy this new job.
********
It was already past seven and Ruby’s father was yet to arrive. Ruby and I were in the living room, watching some children-approved YouTube videos. Fiona was still around and was making dinner in the kitchen.
As I pondered on how my night would be, a sound from the entrance door tore our eyes from the laptop.
“Daddy!” Ruby got up and rushed to the door, hugging the man before he could even enter.
“Hey, Ruby. How are you?”
I straightened my posture as I waited for him to come in. His voice sounded like the one over the phone and even though his attitude back then annoyed me a bit, I decided to be cool. He is my employer after all.
“I am fine, Daddy. I got a new nanny.” Babysitter. Say, babysitter. It is not so hard to say that.
“And she is very pretty.” The way she elaborately talked, you would think I was Priyanka Chopra.
“Nice. Let’s go in.”
I decided to walk closer to the door as it would be rude if my employer was the one having to walk towards me. As I reached the single-level step that led to the living room if you were coming from outside, I stopped.
I looked up from my shoe which I was checking to see if it had a stain from when Ruby painted.
And as soon as my eyes met Ruby’s father’s, my jaw slightly dropped.
Mr. Powers, the hot man I was getting married to in my head, was standing in front of me, his daughter settled in his arms while she wore a smile as though she had just won the lottery. He put her down and walked towards me. When he stopped just a few metres from the edge of the stairs, his blueish eyes looked down at me.
“Miss Sands. I heard you came early today.” Oh my God, his voice. It was so deep yet soft. “Good. Maintain that pace and you will have your job for a while.”
After serenading my ears with the calmness of his voice, Mr. Powers pocketed his hands into his suit trousers, which as I pointed out before, he wore handsomely. “I trust Fiona has put you through,” he said.
Not able to trust my mouth, I nodded, biting the insides of my lips as I clamped them shut. “Alright.”
And he walked away, his shoes climbing the steps gracefully while his scent left a trail.
I facepalmed myself and groaned inwardly.
How will I survive this?
How will I survive this job when my boss is a freaking hot, sexy, handsome man? How will I successfully babysit the daughter of the man I almost got married to in my imagination?
Oh, my poor hormones! It seems you guys have a tough fight ahead.
“Grace...” I dropped my hands from my face and gave Ruby a nice smile.
“Ruby, I have to go. I need to get as much rest as I can right now.”
“What? You are not staying for dinner?” Fiona suddenly appeared.
“No, Fiona. As you know I have to be up early tomorrow.” Drunk me is not going to be happy about that! But whatever! I have to be decent!
I thought in my head, saying the statements in a sing-song manner.
“I wish you were living with us. I can’t wait to see you again!” Ruby said and I walked to her after I grabbed my bag from Fiona who reached for it before I could.
“Ruby, I will be back tomorrow and maybe we can check out that pool you talked about.”
“Okay.” Her pout was sad but I appreciated that she liked me already. “Goodnight, Grace.”
My smile was genuine as I greeted back, “Goodnight, Ruby.”
My feet were about to move when an iPhone ringtone filled the room. I opened my bag to check if it was mine, but Fiona stopped me as she said, “Oh, that’s my phone. It is probably my son Kyle that’s calling.”
I felt my head swirl. Fiona must have noticed some physical change in my face when she raised her head from her already muted phone. “Darling, are you fine? You look rather pale.”
“I... I need to go now.” I managed to say. “Goodnight, Fiona. Have a nice journey.”
“Night. Sleep well.” I smiled and walked out of the room. Without pausing, I rushed to the elevator, punched my destination, and let out the breath I was keeping in.
Then, I thought, ‘What has Kyle done to me?’
GRACE“Huh?” Samantha did not hide her surprise.Okay, right now, I might be shooting myself in the leg. I need to resume by seven am and I’m yet to be in bed even though it is a few minutes to midnight.I am currently chatting with Samantha and David, empty boxes of pizza sprawled on the table in front of us.The two of them surprisingly showed up at my door a few minutes before eight. Though it took them a few minutes to get used to each other, they were soon bonding over small talk and pizza. And I quickly forgot about my desire to fall asleep.In the midst of all that was happening, I told them about my boss. It was that information that Samantha was reacting to.“The very Dominic Powers?” Samantha was close to jumping off the couch.“Dom, Dom, what now?” I sounded uninterested but my insides were desperate for some information. It seemed Samantha knew something huge about my new boss. But Sam didn’t appreciate my tone and smacked my arm in a flash. “Ouch.”“That is what you get f
GRACEA short laugh and I gave in to her pulls. I hurried after her little figure and as we approached the elevator after closing the door, I wondered what could be so exciting about the pool.And when we arrived at the pool site, I saw what the rave was about.The swimming pool, while having a bit of gold in its features, was accompanied by a freaking huge slide that was positioned at a height I would not dare to reach without the assistance of the attached ladder.As my widened eyes scanned the grandeur of the indoor pool, I began to wish that I brought my swimsuit. The peaceful water was tempting enough to pull me. But so was the largeness.Gosh... This is what I’d like to call a proper display of money.“I don’t think you will shwim,” Ruby commented as she put down her juice box.“I wish I could right now,” I mumbled to myself. And when I realised Ruby was still waiting for an answer, I looked down at her. “I wish I could. But, don’t worry, I’ll roll up the legs of my trousers and
GRACE“I feel like I should prank Daddy.”Swiftly, I faced Ruby who sat still, nibbling on what was left of her cookie as if she just didn’t say something about pranking her father.We were at her ballet academy, waiting for her session to begin.“Ruby, why do you want to prank your Dad?”She clapped her hands to shake off the cookie crumbs, swinging her legs which barely touched the ground.“He doesn’t play with me at all. And I want him to. So, I’ll prank him to get his attention.”Aww. That’s weirdly... cute.“But, do you have to prank him?”She frowned and looked up at me. “Uh?”“Why don’t you try talking to him first? Tell him how you feel.”After looking up thoughtfully for some seconds, she faintly groaned, “I don’t know. Daddy doesn’t talk to me after he comes back from work.” Her gloomy expression saddened me but when it briefly wore some brightness, I became intrigued. “When Fiona was here, I talked to her about many, many things. But my Daddy doesn’t talk to me.”I reached
GRACEI faced Bethany who stomped her foot on the ground because others in the room agreed with the voice that replied to me.“Listen to me, Bethany. If Ruby tells me that you pushed her again, I will do the same to you and you will not like a bit of it.”I don’t like that I am speaking to a child this way, but this Bethany girl was able to get on my nerves with her annoying attitude.“Miss Sands! How dare you threaten my student?”“Well, freaking tell your students to stop pushing people their size.”I spat at the woman beside me, snatched the box in her hand, and walked back to Ruby.But before I made it to Ruby, a force pressed against my back, and before I knew it, my forehead was kissing the tiled floor. My entire body felt intense pain for some seconds but I was able to get rid of the feeling after seconds.While I swore at the person who pushed me within my soul, I managed to get up.I maintained my grip on the nod and turned to see a huge smirk on both the teacher’s and Bethan
GRACESince rushing up the stairs with an injured child was not advisable, I left Ruby on the couch and found my way to the upper floor to find out what could have warranted my name being shouted the way it was.“Miss Sands! Fucking come up here this minute!”Uh...okay? Now I am more than curious.And that made me hurry my steps. I skipped some of the stairs to that effect.“Miss Sands...” The man in front of me was very, very angry and... covered in flour and egg yolk!It took every inch of self-control in me to not burst into laughter at the sight of my employer.From the top of his head to his face, he was covered in the whiteness of flour and some drippings of yellow decorated him here and there. The gooey part of the egg trickled down his chest which he had somehow managed to make bare in barely a minute after walking out on me and his daughter.The strange thing was that he looked sexier.How on earth does one still manage to have such sexiness even after being furiously attacke
GRACE“I finally have your time.”I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Powers’s sturdy figure which was dressed casually, the fact that he went out dressed that way making it more surprising.As he settled on the couch opposite us, I felt like a little girl that was about to be scolded, especially with the way he was staring hard at both Ruby and me.It has been two days since Ruby’s little prank- which she has refused to tell how she did it- and since Mr. Powers’s accusation of me.And it has been almost two nights since the... encounter.I was about leaving after my job for the day when Mr. Powers called me, saying that we needed to talk.And now... he has not even said a word.His eyes kept darting between me and Ruby who had her back leaned into the couch, with her elbow resting on the arm as she waited patiently for what was about to go down.But on my side, impatience was growing and I checked my phone to that effect.Mr. Powers must have noticed my little action, so he cleared his throat
GRACEMy hand came in contact with my throat which was feeling extra dry. I tried moistening my mouth with some saliva but that didn’t do any good. I needed water.And I needed to get off this seat before my buttocks became flatter.“Mr. Roberto.” The fairly young man who looked way older than his age because of his grumpiness and mostly because of his receding hairline, sneered at me, and I got an answer before I could ask my question. But I asked anyway. “Can I get a bottle of water, please?”“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t...”“... like strangers touching your stuff. I got it, sir.” Oh if only the two hours spent could just be the end of this torture. I got up and received a deeper frown from Mr. Roberto. But I successfully ignored him and walked to where they were seated. “Ruby, I need to get water upstairs.” She nodded, her mind more focused on the book in front of her. “Do you need anything?”I finally caught her full attention. “A juice box please.” Her grand smi
GRACE “Well, what was your response?” I got off my bed and went to help Sam with the zipper of her red lace dress. “I did not give him an answer.” “It has been two days, Grace. Give him an answer already.” She looked into the standing mirror to fix a smudge on her chin. I gave a dramatic sigh. “It is very sudden and unusual. I have only worked there for two weeks. But why want me to move in? I don’t know.” Sam looked away from the mirror and placed her hands on my shoulders. “What exactly is the problem, Grace?” “Nothing. I just think it is not proper.” “It is not as if you begged to be let into their home. They want you there. Mr. Powers must have noticed something in you. Why else would he have made such a request?” A smug look found Sam’s lips. “Maybe he finally noticed your prettiness.” Contrary to the warmth that sentence brought to my insides, I rolled my eyes. “Oh please. He has a girlfriend.” “Girl, she doesn’t sound like he sees that woman as a girlfriend.” “What o